Former Firefighter Sentenced To Nine Months In Sex Assault Case

HARTFORD — A Manchester volunteer firefighter was sentenced in Superior Court on Tuesday to nine months in prison for trying to sexually assault another firefighter.

The full sentence for Christopher Pellingra is five years in prison, suspended after serving nine months and followed by five years of probation.

Pellingra pleaded guilty in August, under the Alford doctrine, to criminal attempt to commit first-degree unlawful restraint. By using the Alford doctrine, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that the state has enough evidence to convict him.

He was going to take the case to trial, but a plea deal was struck as jury selection was underway.

Pellingra was terminated from the Manchester Fire Department. The woman resigned from the department.

According to police, the woman told officers that Pellingra called her from his cellphone on Nov. 10, 2010, while he was just outside her duplex. The two had dated briefly years before, the woman said.

The woman let Pellingra in, and they were sitting on a couch when Pellingra, smelling strongly of alcohol, got up and started tickling her, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. She pushed him away, and he stopped, but then resumed tickling her, getting more aggressive, the warrant states.

Pellingra pinned the woman's arms, straddled her and tried to stick a hand down her pants, police said. He then forced her head toward his groin as he undid his pants, according to the warrant.

At one point, Pellingra grabbed a scarf the woman was wearing, wrapped it around her neck and choked her until she could not breathe, police said. The woman told police that she hit Pellingra until he got off of her, the arrest warrant states. The investigator, Officer Cory Palmisano, wrote that the woman had bruises on her neck and left forearm.

Confronted with the allegations, Pellingra told police that he and the woman were friends. He acknowledged that he had visited her and the two had engaged in playful tickling, but he denied any aggression, police said.

Pellingra agreed to take a polygraph test but did not show up for the appointment, leaving a message with police that he had retained a lawyer, police said.